Crutch



K. J. RABCZYNSKI.

CRUTCH.-

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21. 1919.

' 1,318,505. v Patented Oct. 14,1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT oFmo- KASIMIR J. RAIBCZYNSKI, 0F BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS.

CRUTGIL- 1 p To all whom??? may concern I Be it known that I, KASIMIR-J. RABozYN- SKI, a citizen of Poland, residing at Boston, 7

in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented newand useful Improvements in Crutches, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to crutches and particularly to an arm supportfor the same, it

being the object of the invention to provide for a crutch an arm supportwhich will comfortably fit the armpit of the user and be capable ofyielding to such an extent that when the weight of the user is placedthereupon the shocks generally incident to the use of the crutch andwhich are received by the armpits will be greatly diminished. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a novel construction of padded armrest and to provide therefor means by which it may be detachably mountedupon 'its supporting spring which is also of novel design andconstruction and is in turn mounted upon the side bars of the crutch insuch a Fig. 2'is an end elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

- Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

In the drawings, 5 represents an arm rest, the exterior of which isconstructed preferably from two pieces of l'eather6and 7,5

while the interior thereof is provided with a Y stuffing of any suitablematerial 8 distributed in such'a manner as to shape the arm rest tocomfortably fit the armpits. The margin of the piece of leather 6constituting the upper cover of the arm rest 5 is doubled over at .9 toform a hem, while the margin of the under piece'of leather 7 is stitchedinto said hemas illustrated at 10in Fig. 3. This 1 method ofconstructing thearm rest 5 results in formin a downwardlyprojectingflange .11 extending entirely therearound, to the underside of which arefastened two U- Specification of Letters Patent.

.the spring 16' are adapted torest.

shaped reinforcing strips of sheet and 13 'by suitable rivets 14:.

The rivets 14 extend through e'achrein- I forcing strip 12 or 18 andthrough the flange" 11 thereby cooperating with the stitching to fastenthetwo gether.

metal 12,

pieces of leather 6 and 7 to;

Patented Oct. 14,1919.

Application filedJ'une 27, 1919. Serial No. 307,239. I i I Each of thereinforcing strips 12 and 13 have formed integral therewith adjacenttojI 6 which saidarm' rest is detachably mounted A upon a spring 16. Theadjacent ends of the each end of the arm rest '5 a book 15, by

reinforcing strips 12 and 13 are hinged together by rivets 17 beneaththe central portion of the arm rest 5. Each rivet 17 extends;

through the flange 11, opposite adjacent ends 10f the reinforcing strips12 and'1 3, and

through the opposite upturned ends of a spacing member 18 whichextends'between' v the flanges 11, the member 18 being pivoted upon saidrivets 17.

Thespring 16 1s a semi-elliptic-type and i .is formed of onepieoe ofspring wire with two side portions1-9 and 20 in such amanner as toprovideineifect'a doublefspring. The side portions 19 and 20 of thespring 16 are arranged parallel to each other for a portion of theirlength and then each has formed thereina pair of spiral loops 21. Theside portions 19 and 20 converge upwardly from the loops 21 and arejoined togtherat'their upper ends by across-piece 22 which is long Thespring 16 is mountedupon a pair of suitable side bars 23 and 24 whichconstitute enough to receive the hook 15 and thereby position andsupport the arm rest 5.

the staif of the crutch; between a spring support 25 and a clamp member26. The spring.

support 25 is stamped fromsheet metal and has formed integral therewithtwo sockets 27 and 28 adapted to receive respectively the side bars 28and 24. Parallel channels 29 are also formed upon said spring support 25in which the side portions 19 and 20 of The clamp member 26 is likewisestamped from sheet metal and is provided with-channels said channels 30resting upon the side portions 19 and 20 of the spring 16. The spring 16is firmly held betweenthe spring support 25 and clamp member 26 bysuitable bolts 31.

The clamp member 26 has also formed in tegral therewith cover plates and33 which fit over "the upper part of the sockets 27 and 28 respectively,thereby inclosing the open ends of said sockets.

The spring support 25 with the sockets 27 and 28 formed integraltherewith, together with the clamp member 26 with the cover plates 32and 33 formed integral therewith, not only constitute a support andclamp for the spring 16 but also provide a means for fastening the twoside bars 23 and 24 together at their upper ends.

The spiral loops 21 formed in the spring 16 tend to strengthen saidspring and are located directly above the sockets 27 and 28 and adjacentto the points where the side portions 19 and of said spring emerge frombeneath the clamp member 26.

A stud 34 is rigidly fastened to the spacing member 18 projectingdownwardly therefrom on the center line of the crutch and into openings35 and 36 provided in the spring support and clamp member 26respectively. The stud 34 acts to always centralize the arm rest 5 andto prevent the central portion thereof from swinging when in use whichmight tend to dislodge the same from the spring 16.

The operation of my improved crutch is as follows: WVhen the weight ofthe user is placed upon the arm support the outer extremities of thespring 16 yield inwardly thereby allowing the arm rest 5 to yielddownwardly. At this time the strain caused by the weight of the userwill be almost entirely borne by the hinged reinforcing strips 12 and 13without in any way interfering with the flexibility of the arm rest. Asthe central portion of the arm rest rises and falls upon intermittentlyreceiving and being relieved of the weight of the user, the stud 34 willslide up and down through the openings 35 and 36 in the members 25 and26, thereby preventina the arm rest from swinging and always reepingsaid arm rest centralized relatively to the crutch. The arm rest 5 maybe instantly unhooked from the spring 16 when it is so desired by simplyspringing the extremities of the spring 16 inwardly.

In stamping the spring support 25 and clamp member 26 from sheet metaland forming integral therewith the sockets and covers for said sockets,a practical and neat arrangement is provided for simultaneouslyfastening the upper portions of the side bars 23 and 24 together andalso for detachably mounting the spring 16.

It is evident that instead of forming the semi-elliptic spring 16 fromwire, the said spring may be formed from sheet metal without departingfrom the spirit of this invention.

If it should be desired to allow the arm rest 5 to swing, the spacingmember 18 together with the stud 34 may be swung out of engagement withthe spring support and clamp and into the position illustrated in dottedlines in Fig. 1.

IIaving thus specifically described my invention what I claim and desireby Letters Patent to secure is:

1. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a semi-elliptic type springmounted upon said staff, and an arm rest, the extremities of said armrest being attached to the extremities of said spring.

2. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a semi-elliptic type springmounted upon said staff, said spring having a plurality of spiral loopsformed therein, and an arm rest detachably mounted upon said spring.

3. A crutch having, in combination, a stafi, a semi-elliptic type springmounted upon said staff, an arm rest detachably mounted upon saidspring, and means fast to said arm rest adapted to receive the strainplaced thereupon.

4. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a semi elliptic type springmounted upon said staff, an arm rest detachably mounted upon saidspring, and hinged members fast to said arm rest adapted to reinforcesaid arm rest and to receive the strain placed thereupon.

5. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a semi-elliptic type springmounted upon said staff, an arm rest detachably mounted upon saidspring, hinged members fast to said arm rest adapted to reinforce saidarm rest and to receive the strain placed thereupon, and means toprevent said arm rest from swinging upon said spring.

6. A crutch having, in combination, a

pair of side bars, a semi-elliptic type spring, means constructed andarranged to simultaneously connect said side bars together and to clampsaid spring therebetween, and an arm rest detachably mounted upon saidspring.

7. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a semi-elliptic type springmounted upon said staff, a plurality of spiral loops formed in saidspring, said spring being constructed of one piece of wire, and an armrest mounted upon said spring.

8. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a spring mounted upon saidstaff, an arm rest detachably mounted upon said spring, said arm restbeing provided with a downwardly projecting flange extendingtherearound, and a pair of reinforcing strips fast to said flange, saidreinforcing strips being hinged together beneath the central portion ofsaid arm rest.

9. A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a spring mounted upon saidstaff, an arm rest detachably mounted upon said spring, said arm restbeing provided with a downwardly projecting flange extendingtherearound, a pair of reinforcing strips fast to said flange, saidreinforcing strips being hinged together beneath the central portion ofsaid arm rest, and means attached to said reinforcing strips at thecentral portion of said arm rest adapted to separate the flangesthereof.

10. A crutch having, in combination, a stafl, a semi-elliptic typespring mounted upon said staff, an arm rest detachably mounted upon saidspring, said arm rest being provided with a downwardly projecting flangeextending therearound, a pair of reinforcing strips fast to said flange,said reinforcing strips being hinged together he neath the centralportion of said arm rest, and means attached to said reinforcing stripsat the central portion of said arm rest adapted to separate the flangesthereof and prevent said arm rest from swinging upon said spring.

11. A prutch having, in combination, a pair of side bars, asemi-elliptic type spring, an arm rest mounted upon said spring, aspring support extending between said side bars, said spring supporthaving formed integral therewith a pair of sockets constructed andarranged to fit the end of said side bars, and means to clamp saidspring to said spring support.

12. A crutch havin in combination, a pair of side bars, a semi-elliptictype spring, an arm rest mounted upon said spring, a spring supportextending between said side bars, said spring support having formedintegral therewith a pair of sockets constructed and arranged to fit theend of said side bars, said spring support also being provided withparallel channels adapted to position said spring, and a clamp memberwhereby said spring may be fastened to said spring support.

13. A crutch having, in combination, a pair of side bars, ascum-elliptic type spring, an arm rest mounted upon said spring, aspring support extending between said side bars, said spring supporthaving formed integral therewith a pair of sockets constructed andarranged to fit the end of said side bars, said spring support alsobeing provided with parallel channels adapted to position said spring, aclamp member provided with channels oppositely disposed to the channelsof said spring support, and cover plates formed integral with said clampmember and adapted to inclose the ends of said sockets. I

14. An arm support for crutches having, in combination, a spring, an armrest provided with an upper and under outer covering so fastenedtogether as to form a downwardly projecting flange, a pair of hingedreinforcing strips fastened to the underside of said flange, and meansintegral with said reinforcing strips whereby said arm rest may bedetachably fastened to said spring.

15. An arm support for crutches having, in combination, a semi-elliptictype spring, a plurality of spiral loops formed in said spring, an armrest provided with an upper and under outer covering, the margins ofwhich are so fastened together as to form a downwardly projectin flangeextending therearound, hinged reinforcing strips fastened to saidflange, and means whereby said reinforcing strips may be detachablyfastened to said spring.

16. An arm support for crutches having, in combination, a spring, saidspring being formed of one piece of wire and, havmg two semi-ellipticside portions, a pair of spiral loops formed in each of said sideportions, an arm rest provided with a downwardly projecting flangeextending therearound, a pair of reinforcing strips fastened to saidflange, said reinforcing strips being hinged together beneath thecentral portion of said arm rest, and means to fasten said arm rest tosaid spring. 7

17 A crutch having, in combination, a staff, a spring support mountedupon said staff, a spring clamped to said spring support, an arm restdetachably mounted upon said spring, said arm rest having a downwardlyprojecting flange extending therearound, reinforcing strips fastened tosaid flange and hinged together beneath the central portion of said armrest, and means pivoted to said arm rest and detachably engaging astationary member on said staff whereby said arm rest may be preventedfrom swinging upon said spring or allowed to swing thereupon as desired.

18. A crutch having, in combination, a pair of side bars, a springsupport mounted upon said side bars, means integral with said springsupport adapted to tie said side bars together, a spring clamped to saidspring support, an arm rest mounted upon said spring, said arm restbeing provided with a downwardly projecting flange extendingtherearound, reinforcing strips fastened to said arm rest, saidreinforcing strips being hinged together beneath the central portion ofsaid arm rest, means pivoted to said arm rest adapted to space saidflanges, and means projecting from said spacing means adapted to preventsaid arm rest from swinging upon said spring.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

KASIMIR J. RABCZYNSKI Witnesses FRANKLIN E. Low, BRONISLAS A. JEZIERSKI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

